A durable player throughout his 18-year NHL career, Rod Brind'Amour apparently is a quick healer, too.

The Carolina Hurricanes captain is expected to be ready for the Oct. 10 season opener against Florida after having surgery Tuesday to remove torn cartilage from his left knee.

It is the same knee that required reconstructive surgery in February after he tore his anterior cruciate ligament. That injury sidelined the six-foot-one, 205-pound centre for the rest of the season.

Brind'Amour, 38, suffered the injury in the opening two minutes of a Feb. 14 game against the Pittsburgh Penguins when he was sandwiched by Nathan Smith and Georges Laraque near the boards at centre ice.

Brind'Amour, who scored 19 goals and 51 points in 59 games a year ago, led Carolina to the 2006 Stanley Cup.

Forward Justin Williams also missed the final two months of last season after tearing an anterior cruciate ligament in December 2007.